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265 Pounds of DeJuan Blair

DeJuan Blair (45), the Big East co-player of the year, is adept at creating angles in the post and keeping opponents off-balance.Credit
Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

BOSTON — There is no way to get around it, literally or metaphorically. Teammates blush. Coaches marvel. DeJuan Blair himself is reticent to talk about it.

But the biggest asset of the brightest star for top-seeded Pittsburgh is Blair’s derrière.

Don’t laugh. Blair has enough back to make Sir Mix-A-Lot and rival coaches envious. As Pittsburgh faces No. 4 Xavier on Thursday night, with the program’s first regional final appearance since 1974 at stake, the Panthers will be led by Blair’s behind. Blair is listed at 6 feet 7 inches and 265 pounds, but the height is a bit exaggerated and the weight is probably a bit conservative.

Blair, a sophomore, has many attributes that led a co-Big East player of the year award. He has hands like suction cups, the energy of an overcaffeinated kindergartner and the agility of a tightrope walker. But what makes him an elite player is how all his strength, dexterity and athleticism mix with his distinctive frame.

“Its freakish how well his feet move with that girth, that size of a butt,” said the former Pitt assistant Mike Rice, now the coach at Robert Morris. “The way that he uses it, it’s unfair.”

So how can a big backside be an asset? Look at 7-3 Hasheem Thabeet, who shared the conference player of the year award with Blair despite being overwhelmed in Pittsburgh’s two victories over UConn this season. Blair is eight inches shorter yet in their first matchup scored 17 more points and grabbed 19 more rebounds than Thabeet, who is listed at 263 pounds.

Slowing down Blair is a primary concern for the Xavier coaching staff, which will counter Blair with the 6-9, 255-pound center Jason Love. The Xavier assistant Chris Mack said their focus was on not allowing Blair to seal defenders in the post. Mack said the teams he was able do that against were the teams he produced 20 points and 20 rebounds against.

“A lot of times you get guys who are bigger, but they don’t necessarily know how to use what they have,” Mack said. “He’s exceptional once he gets position at being able to hold that position. Obviously when you’re that wide, it’s easier to get that position.”

But Blair’s game has more nuance to it than simply rocking his hips and pushing people out of the way. The Pittsburgh associate head coach Tom Herrion marvels at how Blair uses his rear end to create angles, something he said took more than physical strength.

“What’s amazing about him is how subtle and legal he plays with that,” Herrion said. “He’s not a brute player. It’s all subtle. His feel and his instincts allow him to take advantage of his body.”

The maestro of properly using one’s backside is Barkley, who earned the nickname the Round Mound of Rebound and angled his way into a Hall of Fame career. In a 1984 Sports Illustrated article, the 6-4 Barkley articulated why he had success against taller centers like 6-11 Melvin Turpin.

Photo

"It's hard to get around my wide body," said DeJuan Blair. "Why not push people out of the way with it?" Credit
Andy Lyons/Getty Images

“It’s easier for me to get low,” he said. “I can put my butt on Melvin’s legs, but Melvin can only put his legs on my butt.”

Blair puts it this way: “It’s hard to get around my wide body. Why not push people out of the way with it?”

When Rice scouted Blair at Schenley High School, which is just blocks from the Pitt campus, he described Blair’s battles against high school players as “comical.”